


Little Steps

by KieraElieson



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid!Fic, Now Roman’s a baby too, Patton’s a baby, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Tiny Sides (Sanders Sides), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it’s adorable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21821164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Due to a off-handed comment from Joan, Patton gets de-aged. How will the other sides handle their father figure being tiny? And will he ever get back to normal?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton & Thomas Sanders, Just everyone loves each other
Comments: 148
Kudos: 252





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been writing a bunch of angst, and I needed something cute and happy and fluffy, and this seemed perfect.

“Maybe we could explore some things about when you were a kid?” Joan had suggested just before leaving. 

They had no idea what they had just unleashed. 

  * •^*^••



Virgil half woke up. There was an odd sound. Something unfamiliar. It took him several minutes to place it. It was crying. He sat up quickly, looking at the clock. It was five in the morning. Even Patton should be asleep at this hour. But the crying didn’t sound like any of the other sides. 

He opened the door and peeked out. On the floor of the hallway was a baby, crying and kicking its little feet. The door to Patton’s room was open, but Patton was nowhere to be found. 

Virgil carefully picked up the baby, holding it close to him so that he wouldn’t drop it by accident. He looked into Patton’s room, but it was empty. 

“Where do you think he is?” He said out loud. “He’d be perfect to help you.”

The baby had stopped squirming almost as soon as he had picked him up, but then he found the drawstring to Virgil’s hoodie and stuffed it in his mouth, his crying slowing down. 

Virgil didn’t dare take the baby into his room, so he carefully inched his way downstairs. If he tripped, or dropped the baby now, it would be disastrous. He hoped he’d find Patton in the kitchen, working on some super early breakfast or something. 

But no. The downstairs was just as empty and dark as the upstairs. Virgil sat down on the couch. The baby was relaxing against him, eyes slipping shut as drool coated his little fist and Virgil’s hoodie string. 

After a few minutes of the quiet and the dim, Virgil shifted so that he was wedged into the corner of the couch. Shortly after he fell back asleep. 

  * •^*^••



Roman got up early that morning, a fact he was proud of. He was going to help Patton make waffles, and they were going to be  _ special _ . Visions of chocolate chips, pecans, blueberries, whipped cream, and all the flavored syrups he could imagine filled his mind. 

Roman hopped down the stairs, surprised that the lights weren’t on yet. Had Patton forgotten? He flicked the light on and jumped back. 

Virgil was asleep sitting up on the couch, and on his chest was a baby, patting at his face. The baby ducked its head at the sudden light, and let out an adorable little grumpy sound. 

Roman went over and swooped up the baby. “Hello, little one! Who are you?”

The baby giggled at being tossed into the air. Virgil, on the other hand, groaned. 

The baby was adorable, chubby and squishy with soft short curls and a smile to light up the room. The soft blue onesie the baby was wearing didn’t have any name or anything on it, but it was just the same color as Patton’s shirt. 

Roman tossed the baby up in the air again, catching him amid giggles and slobber. 

“ **_Roman!_ ** ” Virgil suddenly yelled, scaring the poor baby into crying. 

Roman hugged him close, shushing in a way he hoped was soothing. 

Virgil looked appropriately sorry, but still continued. “You can’t just throw a baby!”

“He went, what, an inch above my fingers? He’s in no danger. You, on the other hand, scared the daylights out of him!”

“You threw him! You don’t know what could have happened!” Virgil insisted, keeping his voice low. 

“I am experienced in throwing various things,” Roman said. 

“Not babies!”

Logan came down the stairs. “What is the cause of this commotion?”

“Patton’s missing,” Virgil started. 

“And we found a baby!” Roman butted in. 

Logan blinked, and adjusted his glasses. He sighed deeply. “The baby is Patton. He was de-aged as a result of Joan’s comment yesterday.” His voice sounded supremely tired. 

“Oh,” Roman said, looking at the baby. “That seems reasonable.”

“No! It’s not though!” Logan exclaimed, keeping his voice down for the sake of baby Patton, but clearly angry. “It’s not at all reasonable! Neither logic nor reason has anything to do with a situation like this!” He took in a long breath, schooling his face back to— well, not calm, but calmer. “But it does seem to be the case despite that.”

“So what are we supposed to do now?” Virgil asked. 

Logan sighed again. “I suppose I’ll look for ways to return him to his normal size. I presume that between two of you you are capable of caring for him?”

“Of course!” Roman said confidently. 

Logan went back upstairs. 

“Well, Tall, Dark, and Emo, since I’ve got the baby, you’ve got breakfast.”

“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t burn cereal,” Virgil retorted, but he got up and went into the kitchen. 

Soon enough they were sitting at the table, Patton in a high chair that Roman has conjured. Virgil had been grumpy about it, of course, but Roman had guessed that if Patton could sit up he could probably handle Cheerios. And he seemed fine, picking them up and awkwardly smooshing them into his mouth, making loads of gurgling happy baby noises. 

Then the eating devolved into banging on the tray and throwing the Cheerios. Virgil picked Patton up and took him to the sink to wash off the slobber and gooey Cheerios. Roman snapped to clean up the scattered cereal on the floor. 

His attention was grabbed by a tiny giggle. Virgil was now sitting on the kitchen counter, with Patton in his lap, and Patton was giggling as Virgil tickled him. 

Roman came over, smiling at the cuteness. And then Patton, still squirming away from Virgil’s hands, reached out for him. Roman felt his eyes well up as his heart filled. 

“Oh! Sweet, sweet Patton! Of course I’ll rescue you!” He picked up Patton and hugged him, not too tightly, but firmly. 

“Nooo,” Virgil said, his voice lower, rather than higher like most people, but most certainly baby-talking. “No! The tickle monster is coming back to get Patton!” 

Virgil leaned forward, wiggling his fingers. Roman wasn’t certain that Patton could understand words yet, but he seemed to understand the gesture. He squealed and clung to Roman’s shirt, hiding his face. Roman wasn’t sure how much more melting his heart could take. 

Roman slowly ran away. “Don’t worry, darling, the mean ol’ monster won’t get you!”

Virgil let out a play roar, and Patton gave another laughing squeal. 

After a few minutes, Virgil dropped the monster act, and Roman let him hold Patton. 

It was lunchtime before Logan came down, looking tired and defeated. 

“I haven’t found anything. Not so much as a clue.”

Patton ate happily in his high chair, making gurgling sounds and smearing the food all over himself. Virgil took it upon himself to clean him up again, and Roman dealt with the mess. Logan ate quickly, and excused himself, but the moment he left the room Patton started crying. 

  * •^*^••



Logan turned back quickly. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Virgil was holding Patton, bouncing slightly. “It’s alright, Patton.” 

Patton didn’t show any inclination to stop crying. He twisted around in Virgil’s hold, reaching towards Logan. 

“Aww, he wants you!” Roman cooed. 

Patton added babbling to his crying, and there was a distinct ‘o’ sound, if nothing else. It seemed likely that Patton did indeed want him, but… 

“I don’t know how to hold a baby.”

“Of course you can, Momma Lo,” Roman teased. “He’s so sad. You can not ignore those pitiful tears.”

Logan held back. Patton had stopped outright crying, but tears were still running down fat cheeks and his arms were still stubbornly held out to him. 

“I-I don’t know—“

“Logan, sit down.” Virgil said. “In the living room, on the couch.”

Logan obeyed. 

Virgil set Patton in his lap, facing him. Patton immediately grabbed his tie and rubbed his face on his shirt, smearing tears and snot. Despite this, Logan felt a thrill run through him, and he softly encircled the small body with his arms. 

Patton looked up at him, smiling and babbling with a four tooth grin. The ‘o’ sound was repeated, and Logan was now certain that it was Patton’s attempt at saying his name. 

Logan smiled back at Patton. 

Patton tugged on his shirt. 

“What do you want?” Logan asked. 

Patton tugged again, and pulled himself up to a more or less standing position. Logan kept his hands on his sides, not wanting his to fall. Patton tipped forward, knocking their heads together and giving him a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss which landed mostly on his nose. 

Logan was left dumbfounded. 

Roman, less so. “Patton! No fair! I want kisses too!” 

Roman plopped down next to Logan, covering Patton with kisses and receiving several in return. 

“Come on, Virgil!” Roman encouraged. “Patton, Virgil too. Give Virgil kisses.”

Patton wobbled, prompting Virgil to catch him. Virgil received a kiss on the chin in return and flushed brightly. Then Patton wanted to go back to Logan. 

Logan accepted him back, holding him close. Patton yawned, and slumped in Logan’s arms. After a few minutes of being left alone, he seemed to be asleep. 

“What do I do now?” Logan asked. 

“Now you’re stuck.” Virgil said with a smirk. He pulled out a phone and took several pictures. “Don’t you dare move a muscle until he wakes up.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain has seized on baby Patton, and will not let go. My other WIPs are calling me to finish them, but all I can think of is baby Patton.

The next morning, Roman was the first one up. It had been decided that Patton would sleep in his room, and he had made the most elaborate crib any of them had ever seen. 

“Roman?” The r wasn’t quite an r, almost a w, but it was plainly a young voice calling his name. 

Roman groaned and rolled onto his back. His bed dipped, and there was a series of grunts as someone small scaled the tall bed, nearly pulling his blanket right off of him. A moment later there was someone sitting on his stomach, bouncing slightly. 

“Roman, wake up! It’s morning time!”

Roman cracked his eyes open to see Patton on his stomach. Glasses that were much too big for his face were slipping off his nose, and he was older than he had been last night. He was dressed in a blue shirt and overalls, and already had freckles. He grinned when he saw that he had succeeded in waking Roman up. 

“I wanna go downstairs!” He said, his voice bright and loud. 

Roman reached up and pulled Patton down, trapping him in a hug. “Nooo, it’s sleep time. Let’s go back to sleep.”

Patton squirmed and giggled. “But we’re supposed to wake up.”

Roman felt a finger tap his nose, and heard a small “boop!” He couldn’t resist that, and his eyes popped open again with a smile. 

“Fine, I’m up. I’ll get dressed, and then we’ll go downstairs.” Roman ruffled the pile of soft curls on top of Patton’s head. 

Today, to be quick, Roman just snapped to change clothes, and went downstairs carrying Patton on his hip. Patton could walk, but Roman wasn’t passing up the opportunity. 

“So, what do you want for breakfast?” Roman asked. 

“Shh!” Patton insisted, putting a finger over his mouth and trying to look stern, which didn’t work at all. “Logan and Virgil are sleeping. We got to be quiet.” 

Roman was surprised that how well Patton did with L sounds. The L in Logan was almost perfect, while in Virgil it was not quite so good, but both names were still easily recognizable. 

“Ok,” Roman whispered back. “We can be quiet. Do you know what you want to eat?”

“Waffles! You said we would make waffles together.”

“You remember that?” Roman was surprised. How much did Patton remember?

Patton nodded. 

“Do you know why you’re small?” Roman asked. 

Patton cocked his head to the side, and then gave Roman a bright smile. “I’m not small! I’m big already!”

Roman smiled. Ok, so clearly Patton didn’t remember everything. “Oh? How big are you?”

“I’m three!” Patton held up two fingers, and then tried to get a third to pop up without the fourth, frowning at his hand in concentration. He wasn’t terribly successful, but Roman thought it was adorable. 

“Well, if you’re as big as three, I guess you can help make waffles.”

“Yay!” Patton cheered, almost forgetting to be quiet. 

  * •^*^••



A small soft hand patted his face. Virgil’s eyes popped open immediately, terrified that someone had snuck up on him when he had thought he was safe in his room. 

“It’s time to wake up.” A little voice whispered, and patted his face again. “Roman helped me make waffles.”

“Pat?” Virgil sat up, taking in the toddler on his bed. “Wait, you can’t be in my room!” He kept his voice down, but he scooped Patton up and quickly took him out. 

Roman was waiting just outside the door. 

“Patton can’t be in my room!” Virgil hissed. 

“But he really, really wanted to,” Roman defended. “His puppy eyes are even more effective when he’s tiny, and he was only there for like half a minute. I set a two minute timer, and if he didn’t get you up I was going to get him, see?” 

Roman held up his phone, which was ticking down from 57 seconds. 

Virgil huffed. Two minutes probably wasn’t awful, but it was still dangerous. Something unexpected could happen at any time to ruin even good plans. 

Patton piped up, suddenly teary. “Are you mad at me?”

“No! No, Pat, I would never be mad at you.” Virgil said, hugging Patton tighter. 

“You are sometimes,” Patton said, his little eyes getting big and shiny from tears. 

“Sometimes,” Virgil conceded. “But I promise that I’m not mad now.”

“Come on, Patton, we’ll wake up Logan and then we’ll all have breakfast!” Roman said cheerfully. 

“Will he be mad too?” Patton asked, his bottom lip poking out and quivering. 

“No, Patton, he won’t be mad.” Virgil said. “And I’m not mad either.”

Patton looked him full in the face, and a tear spilled over. 

That tear cut right through Virgil’s heart. “I promise. I promise I’m not mad, Patton. Can I prove it to you?”

Patton bobbed his head slightly, causing the tear in the other eye to leak out. Virgil gently wiped them away. 

“How? How can I prove to you that I’m not mad?”

Patton shrugged. “I don’t know.” His voice was now absolutely full of tears. 

Virgil looked to Roman in desperation. He didn’t know what to do. 

“What if Virgil gives you a really long hug, would that prove it?” 

Patton shrugged. 

“How about we try?” Roman said. “I’ll set a five minute timer, and Virgil will give you a hug until it’s over. After that we’ll wake up Logan and eat breakfast. If you still aren’t sure after that, then we’ll come up with something else, ok?”

“Okay,” Patton said. 

Virgil was already holding Patton, but he sat down and hugged him even closer. Five minutes felt like a lot longer when he just had to sit still and think about how he’d upset Patton. But then they were over, and Patton wasn’t crying or teary anymore, even if he wasn’t quite as sunshiny as normal. 

“Wanna help me wake up Logan?” Roman asked, leaning down to take Patton’s hand. 

“You’re sure he won’t be mad?” Patton asked, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. 

“I’m positive.” Roman said confidently. 

Virgil trailed after them as they walked quietly into Logan’s room. Roman picked Patton up and set him on the bed next to Logan. 

“Lo? Logan? It’s wake up time.” Patton said quietly, shaking Logan’s shoulder lightly. 

Logan rolled from his side to his back, and Patton took the opportunity to sit on his stomach. Logan’s eyes came open slowly, and he lifted a hand to pet Patton’s hair. 

“What time is it?” He mumbled, and then reached for his glasses and saw Roman and Virgil standing there. 

Virgil could see the exact instant that Logan shifted from sleepy and calm to awake and ready-to-be-a-perfectly-logical-grownup. 

“Oh. I see that I have overslept. And Patton is still a child.”

“I’m a big kid!” Patton offered. “I’m three.”

“It’s not that late,” Roman said. “But breakfast is ready and Patton would like it if we all ate together.”

“We made waffles!” Patton said, bouncing up and down on Logan’s stomach. “And chocolate chips! And strawberries! And whip cream!”

“I see.” Logan said, struggling to sit up. His voice was surprisingly calm and soft, in the way that made you think he knew exactly what he was doing. “Did you make me a special one?” 

Patton froze, his mouth dropped open into an ‘o’. “Not yet. But I can make you a special one! I can!”

Logan smiled and slipped his glasses on. “Why don’t you go do that. You have a little bit of time since I have to get dressed.” 

“Yes!” Patton scrambled off and ran downstairs, Roman chasing after him. 

“Looks like your teacher instincts kicked in,” Virgil commented drily. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please exit my room until I have dressed.”

  * •^*^••



When Logan came downstairs and saw his plate, he briefly wondered if the extra few minutes to get dressed had been worth it. The whole waffle was smothered in whipped cream. It had two piles of chocolate chips for eyes, a strawberry nose, what looked like mini marshmallows for a mouth, and a string of blueberries that nearly fell off the plate in what was probably meant to be a tie. 

But then he saw Patton’s face looking up at him so eagerly, jumping up and down and waiting for his reaction. 

“I love it.” He said earnestly, and sat down intending to eat every bite. 

Patton let out happy noise, and then let Roman help him up into the booster seat to eat his own breakfast. 

“I had previously thought to find a way to turn Patton back to an adult, but based on the rate of his growth, it may be best to simply wait it out. I do not anticipate this lasting any more than a week, at most.” Logan said. 

Virgil nodded, heavily buttering his waffle and adding just a little syrup. 

But Roman only barely stopped himself from impulsively scooping up a sugar-covered Patton. “We get to play with you for a week, Patton! Isn’t that great!”

Patton’s mouth was so full that his cheeks were puffed out, but he still let out a happy hum and banged his fork on the table. 

Suddenly Virgil pushed himself back from the table, his eyes wide. “I’m gonna check on Thomas.” He was gone before anyone could say anything. 

Virgil got back much later, his hair a mess and his hoodie half off. 

“What happened?” Roman asked. 

“Well, Thomas seems to be fine, mostly. I got him to cancel the stuff he could.”

“No, what happened to you?”

Patton looked up from the book he was ‘reading’. Logan doubted that Patton actually knew how to read yet. 

As soon as Virgil sat down on the ground, Patton darted into his lap. “Apparently the biggest side effect Thomas has from this whole thing is that he became more cuddly. I got roped into it, and then he fell asleep.”

“In the middle of the day?” Logan asked. “That isn’t healthy in the long term.”

Virgil shrugged. “Tell that to him, if you want.”

Logan was inclined to think that Thomas was not the only one inclined to desire more physical affection, especially as Virgil started petting Patton’s hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who else is loving the baby Patton?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to TheSinicanEmpire, and also to my younger brother! TheSinicanEmpire wanted to see Deceit meet Patton, and my brother suggested that Patton could get lost, and also pressured me into writing chapter three today. :)

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Three**

  * •^*^••



Logan was woken by his door opening, and loud sniffing sounds coming close to his bed. He cracked his eyes open, and struggled to see a small shape. 

“I had a bad dream,” came Patton’s young voice. 

Logan gave a hum in answer, and lifted the edge of his blanket. Patton scrambled into the bed, and curled himself into a soft ball at Logan’s chest. Logan laid an arm over him before falling back asleep. 

  * •^*^••



Patton woke up before Logan did. He scootched his way out of the bed carefully, not wanting to wake Logan up by accident. 

He had just gotten safely out when there was a loud alarm. He quickly hit the button, and then realized that it was just going to be loud again. He unplugged it for good measure. 

Then he crept out of the room, closing the door as softly as he was able. He had to get to his own room, where his glasses ought to be on the bedside table. 

But they weren’t there. He’d been so sure that he’d left them there. Where else would they be? He’d have to go looking for them. 

  * •^*^••



Deceit was walking around the dark side, patrolling as usual. It was his job to make sure that nothing Thomas wanted secret made it into the light of day. He had to keep them all here, or if something or someone made it over, he had to keep them obscured. 

The nature of the dark side made the sound of crying not uncommon, but what was uncommon was how young the crying sounded. So Deceit was searching for its source. But whatever it was it kept moving. It could just be one of Remus’s creations, goodness knew they roamed around frequently enough, but somehow he didn’t think so. 

Finally, he turned a corner to find a small Patton collapsed on the floor, sobbing his eyes out. He’d noticed, of course, that Patton had become a child. He’d needed to help mitigate the effects on Thomas, and been kept busy by that. But that didn’t explain why he was in the dark side, or why he was crying. 

Deceit crouched down, speaking softly, since he was fairly certain that Patton hadn’t noticed him. 

“What’s the matter?”

Patton spun around. His poor face was all red, and covered in tears. He paused for several seconds, as if he didn’t know what to do. And then he burst into fresh tears. 

“I-I lost my glasses! And— and I came t-to find them. And I got lost! I don’t know how to get home! And I-I fell,” here he pulled the leg of his pants up to show a scrape on his knee. “And I don’t have—not even  _ one _ bandaid!” 

Deceit clicked his tongue sympathetically. “Would you like me to help?”

Patton nodded, scrubbing at his eyes with both fists. Deceit picked him up bridal-style, which was quite easy when he was so small. 

“You sound like you’ve had a hard morning,” he said, letting his voice carry the humming, rhythmic quality it had when he was trying to be especially convincing. 

“I-I have!”

“No glasses… you can’t see…”

“Mhmm!”

“And you got all lost…”

Patton nodded. 

“And then you got hurt too. You poor thing.”

Patton didn’t quite nod at that. “Well,” his voice still shook, but he pressed on. “It’s not  _ so _ bad, now that you're here.”

Deceit had to hide the shock from his face. Accepting help while in such a position was one thing, but Patton had just said that like Deceit had saved him, or at least his day. He gave Patton a soft, slow smile, that Virgil would probably call a smirk. 

They arrived at his room. Deceit set Patton on the counter in his bathroom, and pulled out the first aid kit from underneath. 

“This might sting, but after I’ll let you pick out the bandaid you want.”

Patton nodded solemnly. He winced when Deceit cleaned the scrape, but cheered up quite a bit once the wide bandage, with a cat on it, was carefully placed over his knee. After that, Deceit took a hand towel, dampened one end, and used it to clean Patton’s face. 

“There’s one problem solved.” Deceit said, helping Patton down. “Now for some others. Have you eaten yet?”

Patton shook his head. He was still sniffing occasionally, but it seemed that the crying was over. 

“I’ll take you to eat something, and if we run into Remus, we’ll ask him to make you some new glasses, yes?”

“That sounds good!” Patton said. 

So Deceit led Patton to the kitchen. He knew that Patton wanted to get back to the light side, but now that he had him, he didn’t want to give him up, and was hoping to distract him from that desire for as long as possible. He’d eaten previously, but he spent the time to make Patton an especially good breakfast, and one that took quite a while to make. Patton seemed very happy to get his hands into any kind of dough, and watch as Deceit used the stove. 

Remus did wander into the kitchen just as the homemade donuts were starting to smell especially delicious. 

“Ooh, Dee! What’s all this?”

“Patton has found his way over here, and we’re making breakfast.”

“It’s nearly eleven. Oh, well, donuts are tasty anytime.”

Deceit turned to see Patton tugging on the hem of Remus’s shirt. “Can you make me some glasses? Please?”

Remus’s mouth dropped open. He was clearly smitten. He dropped to one knee in front of Patton and took one of his little hands in both of his. “Of course I will. What kind?”

Patton shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Suddenly Remus’s eyes lit up. That was never really a good thing. “How old are you? Please say six.”

“I’m  _ almost  _ six.”

Remus grinned madly, and waved a hand. Glasses fell into his palm, one side a six, and the other a nine. 

Before Deceit could intervene, Patton had taken the glasses in his hands. “They look neat!” 

“Don’t they! They’re—“ before he could say anything else, Deceit had flicked his wrist to shut him up. At least Patton didn’t know what it was yet. 

Remus pouted, flouncing away to do whatever it was he’d been doing before. 

Patton put the glasses on. “They work! What do you you think?”

Deceit was glad now for his ability to lie so easily. “They look fine, Patton. If you see Remus again, you should thank him.”

Patton nodded. “Can we eat now?”

  * •^*^••



Meanwhile, the light side was a terrified frenzy. Everyone searching high and low for Patton. And finding nothing but a pair of glasses on the floor by his bed. 

“I’m going to look in the dark side.” Roman announced. 

Virgil froze. 

“That… does sound the most probable.” Logan said. 

“Then we’re all going.” Virgil said. 

They sunk down and appeared in the dark side commons. Roman grabbed the first person, which happened to be Remus, by the collar. 

“Where’s Patton?!” He growled. 

Remus shrugged, letting his body drool like a limp noodle and grinning wide. “Who knows? Dee Dee had him earlier.”

“Deceit,” Virgil spat. 

When they got to his room, Deceit was just coming out. Roman shoved him up against the wall, pulling out his sword. 

“Where’s Patton? What have you done with him?”

“He’s asleep.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Virgil hissed, his wide eyes clearly showing that he suspected it to mean something much darker. 

Logan was the only one to open the door. “He is. He’s asleep on Deceit’s bed.”

“Why?” Roman asked.

“Obviously, he was tired.”

“No, I mean what did you do to him? I swear, if you’ve hurt one hair—“

“I haven’t done anything of the sort, Roman.” Deceit said, his voice firm for once, instead of sliding around. “Let me go. You can have him back.” 

He walked away, muttering. “Not like I wanted him here or anything.”

Logan picked up Patton, managing to avoid waking him. He sank out, and was soon followed by Roman and Virgil. 

Patton was laid in his own bed, and Virgil sat down outside his door to keep guard until he woke up. 


	4. Chapter 4

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Four**

  * •^*^••



Roman woke to a delicious smell. He went downstairs to find a large breakfast ready, and Patton setting the table. 

Patton was much taller than the day before, and all gangly. His clothes didn’t fit as well as they probably could have, as if he’d discarded the clothes that appeared and tried to wear his usual ones. 

“Patton, you are an absolute darling!” Roman said, not hesitating to wrap him in a hug. 

Patton grinned up at him, still rather shorter than Roman was. 

“Do you like it?” He asked, and his voice cracked at the end, making him bite his lip and try not to blush. 

“It looks delicious! Let’s wake up the others, and they can enjoy it with us.”

The other sides were already slowly waking up, luring by the delicious smell. 

The breakfast was absolutely delightful, and Roman made sure to proclaim his enjoyment several times and very loudly. Patton blushed and smiled, and Roman could nearly see him gaining the last few inches, and filling out into his normal size. 

Everything was back to normal. 

After breakfast, Roman saw Patton pull out two covered plates. They were probably for Deceit and Remus. But he wasn’t going to care about that right now. If Patton wanted to be kind and generous, who was Roman to stop him? 

He went up to his room, feeling oddly tired. Especially for this time of day. Perhaps a nap. Afterwards, though, he would have to be especially useful and creative!

  * •^*^••



Patton knocked on the door, carefully balancing the two plates on his other arm. It opened a crack, and a single snakey eye peered out. 

“Morality. I absolutely expected to see you this morning.”

“Hi,” Patton said, feeling oddly shy. “I brought you some special breakfast. As a sort of thank you.”

Deceit’s expression didn’t become any less guarded, but he opened the door fully. He looked between Patton’s face and the plates. “I did not do what I did out of some form of obligation or hope of payment. I do not want to be bribed into ‘further good behavior’.”

Patton’s face fell. “Oh. Oh no, that’s not it, really! I just wanted to say thank you, because it really meant a lot to me that you helped me and then took care of me.”

Deceit’s face hardened in a way that Patton recognized as him trying really hard not to let it soften. He accepted the plates with an incline of his head that could have been a nod or could have indicated more. 

“Um…”

Deceit turned. 

“I don’t know that I can really handle going to find him right now, but would you tell Remus I said thank you?”

Deceit hesitated for a long second. Then he gave a short nod, and the door closed behind him. 

“Well, that could’ve gone better…” Patton mumbled. 

  * •^*^••



A nap did not do anything to help Roman feel better. He woke up feeling groggy, and almost like his body didn’t fit quite right. Definitely a strange, uncomfortable feeling. Perhaps some time in the Imagination would help him feel better, douse him in the pure, unfiltered creative energy and maybe even give him some inspiration. 

  * •^*^••



Remus walked along, balancing the plate on top of his head. 

“I wonder how poisoned it is?” He mused aloud. “Would I die right away, or would I wallow in suffering first? And would it stop my heart from beating? Or drill a hole straight through my guts?” 

Suddenly he heard a squalling baby. 

“How did one of Roman’s people get over here?”

Roman would be furious if one of his little figments got hurt. Maybe that would be a good thing! He’d get into a battle to the death! That would be amazingly fun! And it was practically the only game Roman would still play with him. 

Remus followed the sound. Might as well see what was happening. 

The baby was laying on the ground, alone, kicking and screaming. Remus leaned over him, making sure not to drop the plate. The baby’s crying almost stopped, and he looked up at Remus, his little face all red and scrunched up. 

Remus suddenly let out a cackling laugh. “Bro, what happened to you?!”

He picked up the tiny Roman, flipping him upside down. “Oh, Dee’s gotta see this!”

Roman started crying again, and kept crying until Remus carried him the ~~proper~~ boring way. 

  * •^*^••



Dee pushed the empty plate away. His emotions were roiling, and he couldn’t seem to make heads or tails of them. 

And then Remus was kicking his door in, already yelling his name. Dee hissed, spinning around with a scowl, until he saw the baby in Remus’s arms. 

“That isn’t Roman.”

“It is!” Remus crowed, thrusting the child into Deceit’s arms. 

Roman was very small. Probably not even a year old yet. His face was all red and wet from crying. Dee pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face, which Roman didn’t appreciate at all, squirming and grumbling and trying to push Dee’s hand away. 

“You’re all a mess,” Dee said, snapping to clear his clothes of the mud and leaves that were stuck to them. “Isn’t that better? You can be the handsome prince now.”

Roman stared up at him. 

“Can we keep him, Dee?!” Remus asked, bouncing up and down. 

The events of the day before ran through Dee’s mind. “No. Not for very long, anyway.”

“But we can for a little bit!”

Dee gave Remus a slight smile. “Just for a little bit.”

Roman made a gurgling sound, and Dee looked down to see that Roman was smiling. The smile he sent in return made no need of being faked. 

  * •^*^••



Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin when he opened his door to see Deceit standing in front of it, hand poised to knock. He let out an instinctive hiss, trying to shut the door again. 

Deceit rolled his eyes, holding the door open. He put something inside the room. “Your prince didn’t wander into the dark side.” 

Deceit sunk down before Virgil could think of a reply. He looked down. There was a baby seat with a handle, and inside was a sleeping baby dressed in an even more extravagant prince costume than Roman usually wore. He even had a tiny hat with a crown sewn on. 

Virgil didn’t want him to wake up, or chance anything happening to him in his room, so he carefully picked up the chair, trying to keep it as level as possible, and took it into Patton’s room. 

Patton cooed and awwd over baby Roman, already pulling up copies of Thomas’s crib and high chair and far too many toys and blankets. 

Logan was much less enthused when he saw that Roman had become a baby. 

“We are all going to be subjected to this,” he said tiredly, his face showing clearly that he was _not_ looking forward to when it would be his turn. 


	5. Chapter 5

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Five**

  * •^*^••



Patton was woken by a loud thump. 

“Ow. Victowy!”

Patton sat up, blinking and feeling for his glasses. A small Roman was on the floor next to the crib, rubbing his shoulder but also grinning. 

Patton yawned. “Did you conquer the crib?”

Roman let out the most adorable giggle, hiding it in his hands which was somehow even cuter. 

Patton patted the bed next to him. “Wanna climb up to the grownup bed?”

Roman grinned, and with quite a bit of grunting and a pull from Patton he made it up. He smiled triumphantly. 

“What do we do in a g’ownup bed?” Roman asked. 

Patton gathered him in a hug and laid down. “We cuddle.”

At first Roman was happy, but then he was squirming out of Patton’s arms and thumping down to the floor. 

Patton stretched, and got out of the bed as well. A quick snap had him dressed, and Roman staring up at him in awe. 

Roman’s face contorted in concentration, and he did his best to replicate the snap. After several tries, and a good bit of frustration, Patton stepped in. 

“You don’t have to snap to make something. Why don’t you try clapping?”

Roman clapped his hands multiple times, changing outfit with every clap. 

“Patton!” Roman yelled excitedly, clapping more, and changing not only his own outfit, but Patton’s also. 

“Look at you, kiddo! Is it exciting to change clothes?”

Roman nodded energetically, looking up at Patton. His face screwed up in concentration, and he gave a final clap. 

Patton was now dressed in very, very fancy clothes. They were in his signature light blue, but also had quite a bit of gold, and he had a crown on his head. Roman was just as fancy, in bright red and gold and sparkling white, and also with a crown. 

“Are you the king?” Patton asked. 

Roman shook his head vehemently. “No! You’w the king! I’m the pwince!”

“Ohhh!” Patton scooped up Roman impulsively, hugging him tight. “Then let’s go make a breakfast fit for royalty!”

Roman cheered, bouncing up and down in Patton’s arms. 

  * •^*^••



Logan woke up, his brain again assailed by the remembrance that Roman was now an infant. He sighed. 

Quickly he got dressed, and then debated going downstairs. It was very possible that Patton would be tired. Surely by now he’d been caring for Roman for several hours. But it was also just as possible that Patton was enjoying himself enough to not be tired. 

Well, either way, Logan had to get breakfast sometime. He went downstairs. 

Roman looked up from where he was laying on his stomach on a massive paper, coloring in wide sweeps. 

“Logan!”

Logan offered a small smile. “Yes, good morning, Roman.”

Roman sat up and got a look of concentration, ignoring Patton’s ‘hey, wait!’, and then he clapped. 

Logan jolted as the new, strange feeling against his skin invaded his senses. He looked down. He was now clothed in a long robe, dark blue and studded with silver stars. A hand to his head revealed that he was also wearing a tall, pointed hat. 

Now Logan noticed the outlandish clothes that Roman and Patton were wearing. 

“What is this?”

“Wiza’d!” Roman exclaimed. “Wiza’d Logan!”

Logan looked down again at the clothing. “I assure you I am incapable of performing magic.” He snapped, returning to his usual clothes. 

Roman frowned, his bottom lip poking out. “No!” He clapped again, and the extravagant robes returned. 

Logan frowned, snapping his clothing back to normal. “Roman, please leave my clothes alone.”

Roman’s face screwed up, and Logan wasn’t certain whether he was going to cry or fall into a temper tantrum. 

“Logan, please?” Patton pleaded, stepping between them. “I don’t think he can really understand why he shouldn’t when he’s this young. By tomorrow he should be older, and there won’t be any more problems with it.”

Logan turned his frown to Patton. “That does not change the fact that I would be uncomfortable all day for a mere whim of a child.”

“But, Lo, he thinks you’re a wizard. He’s not just being silly, he’s trying to show you that he loves you.”

Logan’s frown faltered at that. It was one thing to reject a costume change, but another thing entirely if what Patton said was true. 

“Very well. Roman, I’m giving you permission to dress me as you wish.”

Roman’s face brightened up considerably, though a single tear slipped down his cheek unheeded. He clapped, and Logan was again in the wizard outfit. 

Logan gave a brisk nod. “I will now get some coffee and breakfast. If you wish, Roman, you may also modify the dishes to match this aesthetic.”

Roman jumped up, his eyes sparkling. “I can change mowe things?!?”

  * •^*^••



Virgil groaned, slowly waking up. He could hear whispers, and his door was half open. 

“What’s going on?” He mumbled, pushing himself up to his hands and knees. 

“Viwgil? Awe you awake?” Came a very small voice, but still clearly Roman’s. 

Virgil yawned. “Yeah, I’m waking up.”

“Patton said I had to ask you fiwst. Can you be my knight?”

“Do what? A knight?” Virgil slipped out of the bed, heading toward the door. 

“Mmhmm. My knight in shining awmow!”

Virgil finally stumbled into the hallway, rubbing at his eyes. There was a very strong castle theme to the mindscape now, with Roman himself dressed to the nines as a prince. 

Roman was bouncing up and down excitedly. “Can I? Please! Pwetty please!”

Virgil ruffled his hair. “I’ll tell you what. What if I’m your knight in shining hoodie?”

Roman frowned slightly, his head cocking to the side in thought. “Like a disguise?”

“No, not quite. Here, make just a plain hoodie for me.”

Roman nodded solemnly, concentrated, and then clapped his little hands together, and hoodie appearing in Virgil’s arms. It was plain black. 

“Good! Well done. Now make the armor.”

Roman nodded, thinking for a bit longer before a suit of armor clattered to the ground in the hallway. 

“Ok, now, feel the hoodie.” Virgil pushed it into Roman’s hands. “See what this feels like?”

Roman nodded. 

“Now take your favorite things from the armor, and put them on the hoodie, but make them feel all soft too. Ok?”

Roman nodded, his frown of concentration deepening. Finally he clapped, and a bright silvery hoodie appeared on Virgil. In patterns similar to his patches were sewn purple jewels. 

Virgil pulled the hood up, pleased to find that it was both comfortable and soft. “I love it, Roman!”

Roman’s face lit up with a blinding smile. 

“How about a sword too? If I’m your knight, I’ll need to have a sword.” 

Roman’s eyes widened and grew even brighter. “Weally?!”

“Oh, yes, of course.”

Roman clapped, and a sword inside a scabbard appeared at Virgil’s hip. A matching small one appeared at his own hip. Virgil put a hand on the handle. 

“Oh, you forgot to make it soft. It has to be a soft sword.”

“But how will you defeat the monstews if it’s soft?”

“I’m sure we’ll find someone who will enchant our swords.”

“Logan!”

Virgil chuckled. “Yes, Logan would probably do it if we asked nicely.”

Roman nodded and clapped again. 

After being sure the swords were soft enough to not hurt anything, Virgil scooped Roman up and took him downstairs. He was surprised to see both Logan and Patton fully decked out in medieval finery. 

Logan narrowed his eyes at Virgil’s hoodie. “That was an option?!”

  * •^*^••



After a long ‘sword fight’, which was surprisingly enjoyable with the soft swords Virgil had convinced Roman to make, Patton slipped away to make dinner. 

During dinner, which had been transformed into a feast by Roman, Roman started nodding. 

“Come on, kiddo, it’s time for bed.”

“But I don’t want to sleep!” Roman protested, but his voice was very sleepy sounding. 

“It’s alright. First we’ll give you a bath, and then a story. Sound good?”

Roman perked up a bit and nodded. 

Patton ran a bath, filling it with bubbles and sweet smelling lavender. Once inside the bath, Roman was still nodding occasionally, so Patton sped it along, and got Roman all wrapped up in the softest pajamas. He laid him down in the bed and tucked him in. 

“A stowy now?” Roman asked, fighting away the sleep. 

“Oh, yes, I’ll read you a story now.”

It wasn’t even a long story, but Roman was sound asleep by the end. 

Virgil peeked in through the door. Patton sent him a quiet smile. Virgil returned the smile, ducking back out. 


	6. Chapter 6

“But I want to go on a  _ real _ adventure!” Roman said, his face showing clearly that he would be throwing a fit if he was refused again. “I want to go to the imagination!”

He turned away from Virgil, kneeling in front of Patton and clasping his hands together. “Please, Patton!”

“Kiddo, I just don’t know if it’s safe while you’re so little…”

“I’ve been in the Imagination my whole life!” Roman said. “You can’t keep me out forever!”

“Roman, the imagination is still set up for adult you,” Virgil said firmly. “I even went and checked. It’s not safe for you when you’re all little.”

“It’s just a few days, sweetheart, and then you can go all you want.”

“But it’s mine…” Roman’s bottom lip trembled, and then he jumped up and ran. 

Virgil ran after him, but a door suddenly turning into a wall blocked him for long enough that Roman got away. 

  * •^*^••



There was only a moment of hesitation before Roman opened the door. What did  _ Virgil  _ know about the imagination anyway? 

He ran inside, feeling the wash of its power over him, but… it did feel kind of weird. 

But it was fine. It was still his very good imagination. A snap conjured a pony, and Roman climbed up on her back, patting her gently and asking her to take him to the castle. She was a very good pony, and took off for the castle at a flat run that had him whooping with glee.

They made it through the whole forest, and looked out over the fields, dotted with little houses, and then the massive castle. As Roman looked at it, his heart filling with wonder and excitement, it seemed to grow, flags unfurling from every window, welcoming back their Prince. 

And then he saw it coming over the horizon. A dragon. It would try to stop him from coming home, he knew that immediately. And like the hero he was he would vanquish it!

Roman urged his pony forward, drawing his sword. And then he remembered with dismay that he’d never gotten Logan to enchant it! It really was all up to him. 

A plume of fire came down out of the sky, and he had to conjure a shield  _ very  _ fast to protect him and his pony. The fire was a lot hotter than he remembered, but he had remembered to conjure the red shield, and the red ones were fireproof, so he was fine as long as he remembered. 

His poor pony though was scared. She was a very brave pony, and didn’t jump away or knock him off, but he could tell she was scared. So he climbed down while the dragon was turning around and told her she could go back to the castle ahead of him. 

Then he stood still, facing the dragon, and it flew down out of the sky towards him. He held up his shield just in time to avoid the fire, but then the dragon kept coming, knocking him over by just running into him, and holding him down with its claws over his chest. 

“Roman!” Someone screamed from far away.

Roman’s sword arm though, was free, and he swung the sword up and into the dragon’s belly. “I’ve defeated you!” he exulted, grinning as the dragon roared in anguish and then shrunk down to the size of a little lizard. 

“Now you’re my little tiny dragon!” Roman said, very pleased, as he picked the dragon up in his hands. 

“Roman!” That person said again, and Roman realized it was Virgil. 

Virgil was still running towards him, his face incredibly pale. 

“What’s wrong?” Roman asked. 

Virgil nearly slid to a stop on his knees, gripping Roman’s shoulders and looking him up and down and then dropping his head against Roman’s chest, gasping for air. “Don’t you  _ do  _ that to me! I  _ told  _ you not to go! You could've died!”

Roman patted Virgil’s head with the hand not currently full of dragon. “The imagination wouldn’t hurt me. Not really.”

“You get hurt all the time!” Virgil yelled. “All the time when you’re bigger you go in with some crazy, dumb, dangerous idea, and you come out covered in blood and still with that big, stupid grin!”

Roman frowned slightly. A lot of him wanted to push back against all those mean words, but Virgil just looked terrified. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Virgil let out a shaky laugh, letting go of his shoulders and hugging him tightly instead.

“Do you want to see my castle?”

“I honestly don’t think I could walk right now.”

“Did you get hurt?!”

Virgil laughed again, still shaky. “Nah, but you really scared me, my legs are like jelly.”

“Oh.” Roman frowned in thought. “What about a magic carpet?”

Virgil grinned, his familiar smirk starting to come back. “Can I sleep on the magic carpet?”

“No, you’re supposed to be looking at the castle!” Roman concentrated a bit to get the carpet to appear beneath them, so Virgil didn’t have to walk to it.

Virgil let go of him, laying down. “Nah, I think I’ll just take a nap.”

“But you said you would!”

“Uh uh. I didn’t. And this is revenge for scaring me anyway.”

“But I said sorry!”

Virgil peeked open an eye, smirked, and closed it again. 

“And you’re not supposed to sleep on a magic carpet anyway! It’ll hurt its feelings.”

Virgil yawned. “Tell you what, you make me a room in your castle and I’ll look around before I take a nap in there.”

Roman crossed his arms. “What’s wrong with the room you already have?” he grumbled.

Virgil’s eyes snapped open. “I have a room?”

“Everyone has a room,” Roman grumbled, making the carpet rise into the air and fly in through the gates.

“But-- I’ve never seen mine.”

Roman gave Virgil a glare that was getting weaker by the second. “Maybe cause you’re kinda mean.”

Virgil looked away. “Yeah, maybe.”

And then he looked sad, and Roman didn’t want Virgil to be sad. “I’ll show you now though.”

The corner of Virgil’s mouth quirked up. “Thanks, Roman.”

  * •^*^••



Virgil’s eyes were wide as he looked around the room. It seemed a perfect mesh of Roman’s aesthetic with his style. The bed was massive, and he could tell from the doorway that he’d sink down into it if he laid down. Royal purple curtains covered large windows, and as he walked over to them, he saw that they had spiders on them just like the curtains in his room, though much smaller. All around the tops of the curtains, and spreading to the corners of the room were thick white cobwebs.

The floor was covered in a thick, soft black carpet, and instead of chairs there were scattered beanbags that looked like carved rocks. There was a fireplace, but it was clearly unused, filled with old soot, and… were those the little soot creatures from Spirited Away?? Or were they spiders? Either way, Virgil was fascinated. He’d barely been in this room five minutes and he already wanted to stay for days at least, finding every little detail Roman had left. 

He turned back to face the door, and saw Roman watching him, worry written all over his face. “Do you like it? I can change it if you don’t.”

Roman was all hunched small, his concern over whether Virgil liked his creation so apparent. Virgil suddenly realized how very often he shot down Roman’s ideas and creations. And, yeah, most of them were reckless and crazy and dangerous, but… but just to look at him. There was a sudden pang through Virgil’s chest as he realized that he really  _ had  _ hurt Roman with his quick rejections. 

He knelt in front of Roman, to be on eye level with him, and smiled softly. “Roman, I’ve never seen something I liked more.”

The sudden intense brightening of Roman’s expression made Virgil smile and grab him in a hug. He stood up with him, swinging him in a slow circle. “I love it! I love the spider curtains, and I love the bean bags, and I love the cobwebs! I’m absolutely taking my nap in that bed. And what are these in the fireplace?”

Roman’s smile was so bright it made the whole room seem lighter. “They’re soot sprites!”

“And I love the soot sprites!”

Roman hugged Virgil back as tightly as his little arms could. “And I love you.”

Now that would be enough to make any of them tear up. “I love you too, Roman.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m gonna write more, probably, but this’ll likely be a bit slower than some of my other stories.


End file.
